Election 2012: Social What? E-Mail a Key Tactic for Obama, Romney

In case you hadn't noticed (thanks to the wrath of Hurricane Sandy), the 2012 presidential election is just days away.

Both President Obama and Mitt Romney are making their final pitches to the American people in hopes of swaying some potential voters to their side before Nov. 6 arrives.

As we’ve documented throughout this race, both candidates have been relying on social media to spread their messages as it’s a quick, easy and (relatively) free way to connect with constituents. While it won’t affect the electoral college, with a few days to go, President Obama’s 21,572,769 followers on Twitter trumps Romney’s 1,641,956. On Facebook, the president has a 31,635,269 to 11,600,303 advantage over his challenger. There’s no proof that the advantage Obama has over Romney in social media numbers will affect voters, but in reach alone, he is the clear winner.

Social media aside, voters (and donors in particular) have probably had their e-mail in-boxes filled to capacity with “official” notes from the candidates, their spouses, supporters and fellow party members—all pleading their case as to why Obama or Romney is the best candidate, and asking for donations.

In a recent report, StrongMail, an e-mail marketing provider to companies such MasterCard, Sony and AT&T, found Obama's e-mails to be more finely tuned to digitally savvy consumers, who are more likely to skew younger and fall into the Obama camp. The copy is tight, clear, conversational and, sometimes, skirts the boundaries of polite discourse, whereas Romney has focused on text-heavy e-mails detailing such topics as VP candidate Paul Ryan's budget plan and the first-term failings of the Obama administration, the report said. As with social media, the marketing via e-mail by both Obama and Romney has featured personal touches. Both use the recipient’s first name to directly connect with them.

Users may get tired of deleting e-mails, but you can bet they'll be coming at a rapid pace until the election is decided on Nov. 6.

In this 5th volume of PR News’ Book of Employee Communications, our authors cover more than 45 articles on crisis communications, social media policies, human resources collaboration, brand evangelism and more.